The Pain of Corruption
by Venator Noctis
Summary: A chance glimpse of something no soul is meant to see before death in Tartarus marks the beginning of Percy Jackson's decent into the darkness of pain, insanity, and corruption. Percy has faced down the impossible before, but it will be nothing compared to the evil he has face, especially when the cost is much higher than death. Percy/Artemis. Set in my "Empty Promises" universe
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome ladies and gents to the start of the "Corruption" series. For those who are Harry Potter fans, this story takes place in the same universe as my Harry Potter story "Empty Promises". Check it out if you want, but you don't have to. Anyway, you came here for Percy Jackson, so Percy Jackson you shall receive.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, and never will.**

Chapter one: And so it begins.

Percy Jackson was your average teenager. Well, as average as you'll get when said teenager is a half-blood. Yes reader, you read that right. This teenager is indeed a half-blood. Well, half-blood of what? Half human and half what? Believe it or not human, but I have indeed been to a human hospital, and no I was not put into the mad house, or an asylum. Uh, did I say what Percy's other half was? No? Sorry, I do that sometimes, rambling about things not important… like now.

Besides that, let's get into a description of our character. He looks similar to Harr-… another character that interests me, and someone you'll meet eventually. Percy stands at a 5 ft 11, with windswept messy raven black hair with sea green eyes that you can read every emotion in, and were so full of life and vibrant, you would never guess that those eyes would become deadened and cold. They did though, as the corruption ate at him, but that's later on.

Now, Percy here is half human, and half pagan Greek god. Yes, that's right. Immortal, "all powerful" pagan gods. Notice the quotations around the words all powerful. Those are there for a reason. It's because the gods you are going to see in this story, are not as powerful as you would like to believe. Again though, that's for later on. Forgive me for this, I seem to like looking ahead, when I should be focusing on here and now.

So focusing on the here and now, come with me reader, and I'll tell this tale as I did the other, though I haven't finished it at this time have I? I can't quite recall, but it isn't important. Fact is I'm not perfect (though people seem to think I am) and there is a story to tell. Let us begin…

Our story begins with a certain event. This event is known to the demigods as the Second Giant War. It was more of a fit really, but technicalities are technicalities. So let's call it the second giant war (it really isn't important enough to capitalize.) and continue on. During this war, the doors of death, which is literally a giant door that when open allows souls to return from the dead as long as they have the will, though this comes with a terrible side effect. See, the pagans had a whole bunch of monsters in their religion back in the day. You would have never guessed they were real, and still are.

See, things like the minotaur, or the hydra? They're real. Now that I mention it, so are were-wolves, vampires, wendigos, demons… ange- know what? Forget that. Never said anything along the lines of demons or… that word that you don't know of. The fact is, the pagans had monsters like the minotaur and the hydra, which are very real, and still exist now.

Now, if you pay attention to Greek mythology, you know that those monsters were killed before, right? Well, yes and no. See, monsters have no soul like you do, and I guess you can call all my power a soul. After all, yours had to come from somewhere right? Rambling again. So, when a monster is faced, they can be felled with either something the Greek demigods like to call celestial bronze, and the roman demigods (yes, roman) imperial gold. Either of this materials forged into any weapon such as swords, spears, knives, bullets, can be used to beat a monster. In reality though, monsters don't really die. They eventually reform, and that can take up to centuries, or in a few days. When the door of the death open however, monsters reform as soon as they are cut down. Now, how does this relate to Percy? Let me explain.

This relates to Percy, because he and a few friends (I'm not going to say them now. I'm sure most of you know them already. If not, I'm sure there are a lot of books and legends told about them. Just look for a greek or roman looking cover.) were on a quest to close these doors. Here's the problem. The doors had two sides. One on the mortal plane, and the other in the greek's giant hole known as Tartarus which is really the gate to He- er, somewhere. I'm so sorry, I'm not usually so loose-lipped, but this is just an exciting story. I haven't seen a story so interesting since I told Noah to build his boat. Moving on.

So the doors had to be closed from both sides to close fully. Through this mission however, Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend and a daughter of Athena, was on a secondary quest from her mother, which was to find the Mark of Athena. I read the book on that, which was pretty good. Anyway, it turned out to be the missing original statue of Athena that was stolen by the romans from Athens, which is said to be the source of hostility between greek and roman demigods and caused the American civil war, and blab la bla. Seriously, if you want to know all that back-story, make sure to read something that explains it, as this story will not focus at all on those events, just one in particular.

This event, is during the quest to close the doors, Annabeth found the statue, her and Percy's friends managed to secure the statue, but the floor of the room that statue was in collapsed, and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, Percy falling with her, holding her hand the whole way. Very romantic, don't you think?

Anyway, Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, which are the gates to, fine I'll spill, are the main gates to Hell. The pit. "Downstairs", as two brothers would call it. Whatever you would call it, it's hell from the bible, and it is not the place to be for a demigod, or a titan and giant for that matter. The evil aura down there makes anything and everything aggressive, making the titans down there willing and wanting to capture and torture anything smaller than them. In fact, everything in Tartarus tortured each other somehow, with the aura of Hell subtly influencing the Titan's actions in Tartarus, as the gates are in the deepest part of Tartarus.

Now, when Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, they began walking around looking for the doors of death, and stupidly, Annabeth saw a slight red glow, and heard a scream. Thinking it was another demigod, she told Percy to come with her to help the poor demigod. Percy was reluctant, but did so. When they began to get close to the pit the scream sounded from, Percy's head began to hurt, and he realized that perhaps he and Annabeth weren't doing the smartest thing. With quick thinking, he pulled Annabeth from the edge of the pit right before she looked over, but caught a glimpse of it himself. Now, a soul is not meant to see any part of Hell unless that is where they are sent, so when Percy saw it, he screamed and fell back, holding his eyes as they wept blood, and smoke trailed from them. This naturally shocked Annabeth, but she was smart enough to not look over either, instead going to help him.

After some time (it's impossible to tell time in Tartarus, unless your something very powerful) Percy's eyes opened, and they were just fine. Percy had no idea what happened, and Annabeth told him. He told her he had no memory of it, though deemed it as unimportant, and told her they had to focus on the mission. Turns out, somehow they had stumbled onto the Doors of Death, by chance, at the same time as their friends. They proceeded to fight some monsters, well, _a lot_ of monsters near the doors, and managed to close them. Pretty soon after, they won the war. Yay, woohoo, end of story, happy ending, right?

Wrong.

See, despite Percy telling Annabeth he didn't remember looking over the edge of the pit. And he remembered the pain. And he remembered the reason for it. In that one glimpse over the edge, Percy had felt the heat of Hellfire clawing at his eyes, and had heard the screams of the damned, and the chilling laughter of a man. In fact, he had seen the man's eyes in his mind, and they were just pure white. After seeing those eyes, Percy had felt a stabbing pain, as though someone put a scalpel in it. The sreams escalated, and his ears began to bleed too. The Hellfire started to start a fire in his head, and throughout all of that, he had somehow realized the name of the pure white eyes. Their owner's name was _Alistair_. Percy realized this from hearing the screams plead for mercy from him.

And this all happened within a time frame of one second. To Percy, it felt like an eternity. Now, this affected Percy extremely. His friends and girlfriends passed it off as a side effect of being in Tartarus, even though his girlfriend wasn't feeling any of the same side-effects. Percy had become darker, colder, more aloof, and stayed by himself a little more. Sometimes, he snapped at his friends and girlfriend, which could really escalate and became the reason for a little resentment. This was barely noticeable though, as his brooding periods came and went.

He was still the same Percy. Still the same jokes, and smiles, and laughter. He was just a little…. Corrupted. Of course, his friends had no idea about this, until the day where all the shit that could hit the fan, did. Excuse my course language, so let's switch to Percy's point of view of that day where everything went so, so wrong.

**CORRUPTION**

So, today was the day he planned on proposing to Annabeth Chase, his one and only love. Truth be told, Percy Jackson was extremely nervous about it, but had a good feeling about it. He had spent the past few days alone in his cabin in Camp Half-Blood, gathering his courage and planning out how the proposal would go. He had asked Annabeth's mother, and she had reluctantly agreed, believing him to be the best option as he was loyal to a fault. He had then asked the gods Apollo and Hermes, his friends, with setting up the end of the party with Percy's surprise proposal.

Did he mention the gods were throwing another party for their victory against the giants? Well they were, and Percy wanted to propose tonight at the end of the party. He was so sure she would say yes, and had begun to plan their honeymoon.

"Hey Perce, ready for the party?" Percy's friend Nico DiAgenlo, son of Hades, said as he walked in.

"You bet Nico, hold on, just got to get something." He said, grabbing a little box off his box, which Nico noticed, and elbowed him the ribs.

"Planning on finally proposing now?" Nico asked, amused. Percy blushed at the word finally, but let the joke go.

"Whatever man, let's just go to Olympus." Percy said, rolling his eyes.

"Alright then. Hold on tight then. Thank you for choosing shadow-travel lines. Enjoy your trip, and keep all limbs inside the shadow at all times. Enjoy" Nico said, smirking. And the two shadow traveled to the gates of Olympus.

Now, I could go into all the boring details of the party, but that would bore you, and no one likes being bored. So instead, lets skip right to the point. Everyone had a good time, and most of them got completely drunk. Nearly everyone except a few gods, and Percy and Annabeth, which was convenient, as it's kinda hard to propose to a drunk person. The party was starting to wind down to an end, when Apollo stood up, and created a microphone out of thin air. Big deal.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?" Apollo asked, and everyone looked over with a groan.

"Woah, tough crowd, tough crowd. Relax, I'm not saying an awesome haiku." Everyone breathed with relief. "I hate you guys too. Anyway, can I direct your attention to Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase please? There you go Perce, show is all yours!" Apollo shouted, stepping back. Everyone stared at the two, and Annabeth blushed at the attention.

"Percy, what's going o- Oh!" She exclaimed a shout of surprise. Percy, was on one knee. Many girls gasped at this, and some even broke into tears (*Cough* Aphrodite *Cough*)

"Annabeth Chase, you and I have been through so much together, and we've been dating for the past 5 years. Will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man on earth by agreeing to be my wife?" Percy asked, looking at her with pure love in his eyes.

"Oh Percy…" She said breathlessly, and Percy prepared to put the ring on her, just like he planned-

"I'm sorry, but I can't." She said, and Percy's world shattered. He blinked, once, than twice. Then he stood, closed the ring, and nodded. "Right… I'm uh, I'm sorry for asking." Percy said, struggling to hold back tears.

"Please Percy, don't be mad! It's not your fault. I just got a scholarship from Oxford, which is all the way in Britain… I'm sorry Percy, but I can't. I have to take this scholarship, so when we do get married we can get set up in the mortal world with a nice house and we could start a family… please, please understand Percy!" Annabeth said desperately, much to the shock of the crowd.

Ouch, that hurt. She's not going to marry you, because she wants to better herself with education. Aren't you feeling just great about yourself now Percy? He looked at her, and knew the right thing to do was tell her no hard feelings and that he could wait. Right at that moment though, he was going through a broody moment, and couldn't find it in him to say that. Instead, he nodded.

"Oh I understand…" Annabeth looked relieved at this "I understand that you're telling me you would rather learn than marry me." Annabeth's face crumpled at this, and she tried to speak, but Percy kept going, holding nothing back. "Did it occur to you that you aren't the only smart person here? Did it occur to you that maybe I had a plan? A house? But no. Your fucking hubris made you think you were the only who had thought of that. You know what? Go to your fucking school Annabeth Chase, and get the fuck out of my life." Percy said in an ice cold voice that made everyone flinch.

He then turned, and made to walk out when Annabeth grabbed his arm. "Please, Percy wait! I'm sorr-"

SMACK

Annabeth fell back in shock as she put her hand up to her check, which now sported a red mark in the shape of a hand. Percy looked at his hand in shock, as though he couldn't believe he had just done this. Then he looked up to see everyone's (to him at least) accusing and disapproving gaze. He chanced a look at Athena, who looked absolutely furious (he had no idea it wasn't because of him), and then looked at his father. He was crushed to see disappointment(not directed at him)in them. His eyes teared up, and he turned and ran out of Olympus.

This shocked people out of their stupor, and the throne room erupted into chaos and panic. Many people wanted to run after Percy, but the crowd and confusion stopped them, giving Percy more time to run. Somehow, Annabeth got out of the throne room after being yelled at and scolded and scratched by many people. She got out, and ran for the elevator, intent on running after Percy, to try and fix things. She never noticed a female in a darkened corner smirking at the tears running down her face, and when Annabeth got into the elevator, she disappeared in a flash of pink perfume.

**CORRUPTION**

When Annabeth reached Camp Half-Blood after checking his mother's apartment (he wasn't there, by the way.), she was dead tired, and pure determination was all that kept her going. She stumbled towards Percy cabin, finally reached it.

"Percy! Percy, please listen to me! I'm sorry, I'm so stupid! I didn't know! Please, I love you!" She shouted desperately as she got closer, needing to make things right and show Percy that all she wanted was to make sure they had a life to go to before they left the Half-Blood world, which they had talked repeatedly of before.

"Percy! Percy, please! Percy… Percy?" She walked in.

Over the hill, twelve flashes of light appeared, and the twelve Olypmians appeared to help their hero, only to hear a cry of "NO!" and a scream of anguish resound throughout the camp. The twelve gods ran towards the scream, and found a crying Annabeth Chase on holding to her chest, torn pictures and blood everywhere, much to the gods' horror.

When they managed to find out what she was holding, it turned out to be the engament ring, sliced in two, and a note saying "_See you in Hell". _When Poseidon saw that, he searched the whole camp, searching desperately for his son. All he found was Percy's sword, Riptide, sticking out of a tree covered in blood.

Percy was nowhere to be found.


	2. Favors

**AN: You'd be surprised at how easy this idea came to me, but yet, it was so damn hard to write! Anyway, on with the show.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs only to Rick Riordan, not myself. **

Ch. 2: Favors

Five year had passed since the disappearance of Perseus Jackson after Annabeth's rejection. Five years since anyone has seen or heard him. Annabeth, well, let's just say she didn't take it very well. For the first two years, she sank into a deep depression. All she did was stare at the wall, for hours on end. People had to feed her, and even then that was only when she was asleep. When awake, she absolutely refused to do anything to help herself. Only after three years of talks with her mother and her cabin, did she finally "wake up." Even so, occasionally she would drift on in the middle of a sentence if it so much as implied Percy.

While Annabeth took it hard, Poseidon was a wreak. It took the entire Olympian council to stop him from swearing to destroy Annabeth. That was his first reaction. Then came the grief, which he tried his hardest to control. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't afford to just stop doing his job, now could he? Eventually however, he finally lost control, and for weeks storms were seen up and down the coasts of the seven continents, and earthquakes came often. After this time period, Poseidon shrank into himself, and was only seen from then on at the Olympian meets to find his son. Eventually, after 4 years, he stopped coming. No one has heard from him since.

When Percy had first disappeared, Zeus had declared everyone begin searching for the lost hero, even the gods. And so for five short (Well, I suppose it would be long, but that's to your perspective now isn't it?) years, they searched. Everywhere. From the U.S., to Antarctica, and even Alaska (which Hermes barely came back from.) Not a sign. Not a trace. Not even a scent. Finally, on the fifth anniversary of Percy's disappearance, he was officially declared M.I.A (which kinda confused me, as what action had Percy gone really missing in? I didn't know rejection counted as war. Pagans…). At first, this didn't really matter. Soon though, people stopped looking for him. Even his closest friends.

Well, almost everyone. One goddess just couldn't accept the fact that a mere child, a boy at that, was able to evade her. When Artemis was not on a hunt, she was searching for Percy. When asked why, her nose would go into the air and she would say it's a matter of pride…. Or turn you into a jackalope. Depended on your gender. Eventually, the hunt for Percy became an obsession, and soon, she periodically left the hunt in the hands of Thalia to check out new leads on Percy's whereabouts, even though she didn't really have any.

So it didn't really surprise anyone that today at the Olympian meet, both Poseidon and Artemis were not in attendance. In fact, Zeus barely batted an eye, and went on with the meeting. Now, I suppose you want to hear this meeting? Well, I'm sorry to say I won't. Simply because really, it would bore you. The jist of it was, Zeus asked everyone if they had any idea where Percy was, they all said no, and then silence reigned in the throne room for a long period of time.

Forgetting about the Olympian meet, today was another day for Lady Artemis. She had woken up at 5 in the morning, ate, and promptly left the hunters camp to once again, search for Percy. She hoped to find some new leads on the missing boy, as she was searching what she considered to be a new area. Today, she was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She walked among the town, ignoring to gazes of the men as she walked by. She searched everywhere, check everything. The most promising area was a motel room, which had newspapers and books and supplies strewn across the room. Still, Percy was not there, and she couldn't sense his power, nor tell if he had even been there in the first place. Hours later, late in the evening, she was about to leave after her 10th time checking the area, when she felt it.

It was faint, but it was there. A power she had never felt before in her long life. She sighed. It may not have been Percy, but this could turn out to be a worthwhile hunt. Readying her bow, she set out towards the area in which she had felt the foreign power. The challenge was that the power she had felt, seemed to just vanish, so it took her some time to get to the area. Eventually she had, and discovered it to be an old warehouse. Ready for anything, she raised her bow and walked inside.

Upon entering the warehouse, she at first found nothing. Searching and doing a sweep of the area, she found a lone mortal man, and he was standing in her way.

"Step aside." Artemis said, struggling not to insult the man.

"Why? Is there something important to you in there?" The man asked.

"Possibly. It's none of your concern, so step aside." Artemis replied, feeling a headache coming on.

"Hmmm…"

"Look mortal, either step aside, or die." Artemis snarled, fed up with this insufferable man.

Suddenly, the man snapped his fingers and smiled. "Oh, you're a pagan goddess ain't ya? Well, why didn't you say so earlier!" He said, grinning.

Artemis was confused. For one, how did this mortal know what she was, and second of all: Pagan goddess? In all her years, she had never really been referred to as a pagan goddess. She knew what they were of course, but she never thought it would apply to her. As such, she took it as great insult, and growled.

"I don't know what you are, but you're obviously a monster. Now, you have three seconds to move before I turn you into a walking porcupine." Artemis called out, raising her bow, an arrow knocked.

The man, he just _laughed_. "Oh you're a riot! You see, I've been dying to have a little _fun_, and here you are! Oh, this is going to be-" An arrow went between his eyes, much to Artemis' satisfaction. Knowing he was dead, she set about moving forward.

"-fun."

That single word made Artemis start. She had just shot that thing in between the eyes. How was it still standing? She looked at the thing, and had to stifle a gasp. The monster was grinning at her, smiling like a loon, blood coming down his face. He reached up and grabbed the arrow, pulling it out. That wasn't what made her start. It was the fact that it's eyes were a pure black.

Of course, all monsters have black eyes. The thing was, she had never seen a monster with black eyes that looked like a human. Well, she had, but she had always been able to see past its façade. This one… she had no idea what was below that surface.

That scared her.

The thing was inspecting her arrow (Seriously, how in Hades was that thing still standing!) and tutted. "Now, that wasn't very nice." He said, wagging his finger, as though she was a dog.

She gulped, but showed nothing but defiance outwardly. Steeling herself, she prepared for a hard fight. Seeing this, the thing sighed. "Can't we just get along?"

Artemis sent an arrow in reply, this time hitting his heart. Normally this would have worked. Normally. Instead, it just looked down, and shook his head. "If it didn't work before, why would it work now? You pagans, so silly."

Anger coursing through her at the things insults and lack of results, she snapped. Throwing down her bow, she took out her knives, trying to keep her true form back. She would make this thing suffer before ending it's pathetic life. The thing took one look at her knives and said mockingly "Oh, the kitty's bringing out her claws. Meow."

That's it. Gritting her teeth, she readied her knives, and charged it, an angry shout escaping her lips. As soon as she made contact with it, Artemis was a blur of motion. She cut everywhere. It's arms. It's eyes. Everywhere she could reach, she dug her knife into it deep. The thing yelled in pain, and Artemis felt satisfied. To end her bloody attack, she jumped back, and kicked it's chest causing it to fly back 20 feet.

"How's that for claws?" Artemis mocked it, satisfaction of a completed hunt filling her. She breathed in, and turned around. Now, back to finding that demigod…

"Not bad…. For a pagan."

She froze, and turned around. The thing standing. It was panting, bleeding, but it was standing. She was shocked. Not only was this thing still alive, it was still mocking her. Growling in frustration, she wondered how to kill this thing. If it could bleed, it could die! Wait…. Bleed? Monsters did have blood, but it was never…. Red. This things blood was mortal blood!

Another shock. She had never really seen that before. However, deciding It was irrelevant, she readied her knives once more, as they seemed to have done the most damage.

"Now, I'll give you some credit, Arty. Can I call you arty? Great. Anyway, I'll give you some credit. If you were any other Olympian, this would have been easy. I forgot that you used silver though in everything. Well, you're version of silver at least. Not as effective as normal silver, but I'll say that it hurt like a bitch. Well done!" The thing said, panting, but still standing and smiling. Mocking her.

"Then allow me to make you feel better. I'm sure you won't feel anything more in Tartarus!" She said back, once again (not surprisingly I know) raising her bloody knives.

The thing cocked an eyebrow. "Hmm, I'm sure you could do something else a little more eh… _pleasurable_ to make me feel better." The thing laughed out.

Screaming at the implication, Artemis charged.

"I will not be mocked by some EURGH-"

The thing had caught her neck just as she was about to strike. It brought her close, and smiled and cold smile, which made Artemis (though she would never admit it!) gulp in fear.

"Enough of that." It said, and threw her through a wall.

Shaking from how easily it had done so, she stood up, now wary of this creature. The thing smiled that smile, and she sneered in response. It laughed.

"Oh you're a fighter. I love it when they fight." It laughed, and it made her shiver. A little.

"My turn now though, little miss pagan." It called out,

Artemis, well, all she could do was prepare herself.

**CORRUPTION**

Preparation had done her little good. Steeling herself had gotten her nothing in return. Not even her true form, which was always effective, saved her.

Recounting the fight when the thing had struck back, it was well, pitiful. Artemis had put up a little fight, cutting its stomach. Snarling from that, the thing jumped back, and waved it's hand at her hands. This sent her knives flying, making Artemis blanch, and begin to feel a little panic rising. Reaching back for an arrow to fight with, the thing simply waved it's arm again. This time, it had sent her flying into a nearby wall.

Spitting out a little ichor, Artemis had changed into her true form, deciding this fight needed to be finished quickly. The most effect it had, was that the things eyes let out a little smoke. The thing laughed, and promptly sent a large bow full of Hades knows what, which hit her and sent her into another pile of boxes, making her nearly go unconscious, and coming out of her true form.

"Your little light show is nothing really to Hellfire. You're going to need a new trick Arty!" It had sang out, reaching forward to grab her neck once more, and lifted her.

In her thousands of years of life, she had never really felt so helpless. She had always stood tall, and only her family could hope to match her power. Now here she was, beaten and battered, bleeding and exhausted. By the gods, she hadn't even lasted five minutes against the things assault!

"Well, I do believe you've had enough!" The thing laughed. She spit ichor on its face in response.

Sighing, it wiped its face clean. "Bad cat. Hasn't daddy dearest told you it's not polite to spit?" The thing threw her to the ground, and she groaned in pain.

The thing sighed, and then leered at her.

"My my, little miss pagan has quite the body! Mmm, the things I could do to that body…" The thing then let out a chuckle, and began to step nearer.

Artemis panicked. She was a maiden! She couldn't let that thing _rape _her! It grabbed her arms, and she screamed.

"NO! NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT! PLEASE!" Artemis had never begged before, but she was doing it now. Anything would be better than this!

"HELP ME! APOLLO! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! HE-" The thing slapped her, laughing.

"I love screamers! Keep it up girl!" The thing let out a cruel laugh, reaching for her shirt.

Artemis actually _cried_. This couldn't be happening! '_Please, _she begged, _someone help me!'_

Her prayers were answered, and not a moment too soon. Thing screamed in pain, and steam rose off of its back, as though someone had poured hot water on it. Artemis vaguely felt a little wet, but she assumed it was blood.

The thing stood, and turned, only to step backwards again screaming, steam rising off its face this time.

"Didn't you know? It's not right to do that to a lady." A mysterious masculine voice said calmly.

Something pushed the thing backwards, and it tripped, landing on her.

"You think you're doing anything right here, Hunter? You're saving a pagan goddess, you fu- ARGH!" The thing screamed again, and Artemis felt relief as she realized it was a hunter, then her heart fell as she realized it was only one, and it wasn't her hunters. It was a man, after all.

"I'm sure I could handle a pagan goddess if that's true, but I know better than to listen to demons." The man said in reply.

So that's what the thing was. '_A demon? I thought those were a myth!' _Artemis thought. The man lifted the demon up, and promptly shoved a knife in its face. The thing screamed, then laughed.

"You hunters! You think sending me back to hell is going to solve anything? That sticking silver in me or pouring your holy water on me is going to change a thing! I'll just come back, and when I do, I'm going to rip your intestines out and use them to hang you!" The thing snarled, panting.

"Normally, that's what would happen. However, I've got a new trick." The man said in reply, still calm.

Artemis heard a gun cock, and then heard the demon whimper.

"Wh-where did you g-get that g-gun?" The demon stuttered out.

"I like collecting things." The man said in response, and then pulled his knife out of its face and pushed it back.

He stepped over Artemis, and raised his gun.

"I hope you like presents. I don't have anything but bullets though, so I guess it'll have to do." He said.

The demon opened its mouth, but words never escaped its foul mouth. The man pulled the trigger, and the demon fell back, blood spraying as its body flashed with lightning. Sighing, the man stepped back, and put what looked like a revolver back into his pocket, and turned to look at her.

"Are you alright la-, Oh shit." The man cursed, and then bent down.

The last thing Artemis saw and felt before going unconscious, was the man picking her up in his arms, and she saw his sea green eyes. '_Percy'_ was her last coherent thought, than she saw black.

**CORRUPTION**

When Artemis came too, she immediately tried to rise, but failed. Instead, she groaned in pain. She tried opening her eyes, but the light blinded her, so she shut them tight. Groaning, she tried again, slowly this time. Succeeding, she took in her surroundings. She was in a motel room. With a start, it was the motel room that she had seen before. The books and papers were still strewn about, but this time she noticed some new things.

For one, there was a bag of guns on a table, bullet casings and gun parts all over it. She saw her bow and arrows next to a television in between the two beds. She also heard a shower running in the bathroom. Knowing someone else was in the area, Artemis immediately tried to get her bow, but once again groaned in pain and fell back. Her body was throbbing, and she was defenseless against the other person in the area.

Then she remembered her rescued her, and relaxed a little. Percy, from what she knew, was not one to take advantage of people. Five years can change anyone however, so she remained vigilant. She tried to sit up, but once more her wounds caused her to lie back down. She wished Apollo was here. He could have fixed her by now.

"You might want to stop doing that, you'll just hurt yourself more." A man's voice sounded, making her start.

She had never heard the shower turn off, as she was too preoccupied with her thoughts. She was surprised he had moved so quietly, but that didn't matter. Perseus Jackson was in front of her, alive and well.

He was also shirtless.

Artemis blushed, and struggled to keep her voice level. She had a lot of things to say, questions to ask. She opened her mouth and said, "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?!"

Artemis was surprised at the tone of voice, and she blanched. Percy raised an eyebrow in return.

"Of all the things you could have said, you said that?" He asked, clearly amused.

Artemis scowled. "It's a fair question! You're in a room shirtless with a maiden goddess!"

Percy sighed, and shook his head. "Whatever. If you must know, I did get a fair amount of blood on me too."

This made Artemis bite back a scathing remark. Had he been injured? As though reading her thoughts, he said "It wasn't my blood though, so I'm grateful for that."

She watched him cross the room, and she took in his appearance. She noticed the scars that went across his chest. There weren't many, but there were some. She wondered vaguely how he had gotten them, but decided it didn't matter. What mattered was bringing him back.

"Perseus." She said, trying to get his attention, which he ignored.

He put on a black shirt (making Artemis both sigh with relief, and slight disappointment.) and walked over to the kitchen area.

"Per- argh." She had tried again, only to have her throat suddenly contract, and she felt desperately thirsty.

Percy walked back to her after getting what he needed, and proceeded to raise a glass of water to her lips. She accepted the drink greedily, but slowly. When she had finished with that, she tried to speak again, only to have Percy say, "Keep your mouth shut for a moment, you need to recover a little more."

She was about to say with indignation that she was a goddess and he was a mortal, and she was fully capable of helping herself, when he raised a glass of nectar to her lips. Her eyes closed in bliss and she moaned slightly at the taste and that the throbbing sensation of her body was ebbing away.

When finished with the drink, he handed her a bar of Ambrosia, which she ate with relish. She sighed as the pain ebbed away, finally allowing her to sit up, albeit slowly.

Nodding with approval, Percy stepped back, and sat at the table with the guns. Once more ignoring her presence, he promptly began to clean one of the gun parts.

She watched for a moment, then called his name. "Perseus."

He ignored her. "Perseus."

He stilled ignored her, and she began to get annoyed.

"Perseus!"

"What?! What do you want?" He finally said, annoyed.

Now that he said that, Artemis was faced with the question of what to ask him. Deciding to figure out some information first, she asked him "What have you been doing all this time?"

Percy looked at her and said "Saving people. Killing monsters. The normal demigod thing." Then went back to cleaning the gun part.

She groaned in annoyance. Obviously, he didn't want to talk. "Why do you need those however? I'm sure riptide, if you had not left it behind, would have served you well enough!" She said.

"Oh yes, I'm sure that sword would have worked against that demon who nearly had his way with you last night. It would have worked as well as your Olympian silver knives did, which is to say, not at fucking all!" He sniped back.

Artemis shuddered as she remembered how easily the demon had overpowered her, and how close she was to not being a maiden any longer. She gulped, and looked away. Percy sighed, and put down the rag he was using to clean it. Instead, he picked up another piece and began to put the gun together.

"Look, I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings with that remark, but you need to know that anything that was made by Olympians or demigods don't work on demons. I figured out that the hard way, and nearly died." He said, piecing the final piece on the M1911, then sliding the clip into it.

She nodded, then sighed. "So what does work on… demons." She asked, curious.

Percy was currently looking down while he pieced together a sawed off M3 shotgun, but still replied, "Normal silver, holy water, salt, a key of Solomon-" After saying that, he pushed the carpet up, and she caught a glimpse of some sort of symbol drawn there. "- and an exorcism will be enough to stop a demon, but not kill it." Percy said, pulling the pump back of the now completed shotgun, and nodded his approval.

"Nasty business, hunting demons." Percy added.

She nodded, but noticed how he avoided saying how to kill them. "But you killed the demon last night. How did you manage that?" She asked.

Percy looked at her, rolled his eyes, and said sarcastically, "Magic!"

Artemis once more felt annoyed, but decided to get to the point. Apparently, Percy wanted to get to the point too.

"So, how long have you been looking for me." He said, now cleaning a wicked looking knife.

"Since you disappeared. Zeus ordered everyone search for you, though he has called off the wide-spread searches yesterday." She replied.

Percy chuckled. "Who knew that Zeus would be searching for little old me. So if he called off the searches, how come you still were looking?"

"I wanted to know how a demigod had managed to avoid Olympus and all of its allies. We searched the entire globe for you, especially that Annabeth girl." She said, then waited for his reaction.

Apparently, he didn't care, nor was he impressed. "You know, I was wondering that too. I expected to be found within the first few weeks. Don't tell me you guys are slipping?" He said, now rummaging in his bag for something.

Artemis gritted her teeth, and continued on. "We aren't slipping, as you would say, it's just we could not feel your presence, nor could Iris find you when we attempted to message you. Somehow, you just vanished, and none of us could find you."

Percy looked like he was considering this curious question, then he shrugged. "Eh, If I can't figure out what it is, and you can't, then I guess we won't find out now will we?" He said, dismissing it as though it was something as trivial as the weather.

Artemis gaped at him. "But whatever is hiding you could be an enemy of Olympus, targeting you! How could you not be concerned!" She shouted.

Artemis ranted on, about how concerned he should be, and in response Percy took out a revolver, pointed it at her, and cocked it back. She shut up.

"You want to know how I killed that demon? Well this gun is what killed it. This gun, can kill anything. And when I say anything, it also means you Artemis. Now, I'm not going to ever use it on you, but you need to know that I'm not concerned because just one bullet will kill anything targeting me. So, please, shut up." He said.

Artemis nodded, watching the gun warily. She finally said, "You need to come back to Olympus with me."

Percy stopped messing around with his weapons and looked at her with a critical eye. "What?"

"You need to come back to Olympus with me."

"No."

"Zeus has ordered it!"

"I don't care if Chaos ordered it! I'm not going back, and that's that." He said back.

Percy glared at Artemis, and she glared right back. For several moments they held this stare, then Percy said, "If I go with you, what do I get out of it."

Artemis blinked. "What?"

"You heard me."

"Yes, but are you being serious?!'

"Yep"

"What could you possibly want? You declined godhood for god's sake!"

"A favor."

"What?"

"You heard me. I want a favor from you."

"I'm not sure the council-"

"I didn't say the council. I said you."

This made Artemis be quiet, and contemplate her next words, and the demigods words.

"What do you mean by a favor?"

"It's simple. I get to ask you one thing, anything, and you do it."

"I'm a goddess, not some harlot!" She cried, fury on the rise.

"I don't want that. That has no value."

Artemis gaped at him. A man, saying sex is no value to him? '_Either Perseus has really changed over the past five years, or he wants something much worse.'_ Deciding to humor him, she continued on.

"And If I agree."

"Then I get to ask you one favor, and you must do it. You must swear on the Styx to honor it."

"And why do you want a favor?" She asked, finally starting to consider it.

Percy looked at her, and suddenly, she felt as though she was looking at a broken man, because that's what he looked like. His face was haggard, his body hunched, his eyes darkened with pain. She flinched at the sight. It was as though he had aged years in that short amount of time.

"Look at me."

She looked, but avoided his eyes.

"LOOK AT ME." He shouted suddenly, making her flinch once more. She looked into his eyes, and couldn't help but feel remorse for this broken man.

"I'll tell you why I want a favor. I want a favor, because it can be whatever I want it to be. Anything, and you must honor it, because you have to swear on the Styx. I use to deal in gold, and love. Now? Now I deal in favors, because that's the way the world works. Money can burn. Gold melts into nothing. Love? Love is fickle, and is easily broken. A pointless use of currency, a pointless endeavor. Make no mistake, I do not care for love, nor money. It's no use to me. No, the way the world works is through favors. Everyone needs someone to do something for them, doing out of their own kindness is a favor. In return, that person must help them later on. So I ask a favor, because I'll help you now, but you must help me later. Otherwise, you might as well leave, because I will not go with you anywhere." Percy stated, his tone dead, his eyes blank.

Artemis blinked, and she noticed her eyes stung. Blinking it away, she nodded.

"Very well. I swear on the River Styx to return a favor, anything he shall ask, to Perseus Jackson if he should ask it of me." She said solemnly. Thunder sounded in the distance, finalizing the oath.

Percy nodded, and Artemis stood.

"Well, we might as well prepare to go. My hunters are outside the city, and it will take some time to reach them."

She walked over to the T.V., and picked up her bow and arrows, and took the knives she now noticed on top of the television. As she was about to go out the door to wait outside, he called after her.

"Artemis?"

She turned. "Yes Perseus?"

"I always call in my favors. It may not be today, or tomorrow. It could be years from now, but I will call in that favor. I always do."

She nodded, and said, "I understand."

Percy stared at her, and tilted his head. They stared at each other. Then she turned, and said "Get ready to go."

She heard him stand and pushed his chair back, but she heard nothing else. For some reason, she turned back, only to find him right in front of her. She stifled a gasp, and looked up.

Seeing he had nothing to say, she turned, then heard him whisper. "Do you understand? Do you really?"

She said nothing, and walked out the door, feeling his stare the whole way, and closed the door behind her.

**AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and sorry it took so long. I had a little bit of writers block, but I will continue on, don't worry about this being abandoned.**

**Venator**


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